It is known in the art to ventilate the roof ridge area using a variety of products. As is well known in the art, such vent products allow for air trapped in the attic of a building to be vented through the crest of the roof (with replacement air being allowed to enter, e.g., via vents in the soffit area). Included among the known products are several which utilize a porous material to insure that ventilation takes place without the ingress of unwanted elements, such as moisture, debris, insects, and the like. Examples of prior art disclosures that are generally germane to the present invention include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,290 to C. K. Wolfert shows an early disclosure of the use of a non-cuspated nonwoven mat as the filter in a vent cap system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,699 to L. J. Spinelli shows a vent construction comprising a non-cuspated matting of randomly convoluted polymeric filaments that are heat bonded to a porous sheet material layer. The subject matter shown in this patent has been sold by the assignee, Benjamin Obdyke Inc., under the trademark ROLL VENT for several years. More recently, the aforesaid Benjamin Obdyke Inc. has been selling a cuspated, more rigid product under the trademark ROLL VENT 2.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,095 to C. K. Wolfert illustrates an adjustable filtered roof ridge ventilator comprising a filter medium.
Another roof venting system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,579 to M. J. Rotter which employs a non-cuspated, unitary mat of randomly aligned synthetic fibers which are opened and blended, randomly aligned by airflow, and joined by phenolic or latex binding agents and heat cured to produce an air permeable varying mesh.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,672 to M. J. Rotter shows a roof vent of synthetic fiber matting which contains a grid of solid cores to insure the needed compression resilience of the construction.